Nashville School District board approves $500 Christmas bonus for employees

The Nashville School District board voted 4-0 on Nov. 21 to approve a $500 Christmas bonus for district employees, to be paid Dec. 5, the board chair said at a brief special meeting.

Board member Mister Graham recommended the payment, saying, "I wanna recommend that we give a $500 bonus this next month to the employees." He noted the district paid a $1,000 bonus in the summer that "went on their salary schedule," and said the $500 proposal is smaller than bonuses in the last two or three years but would "help a lot of feelings." He estimated the payment, including employer matching, for about 250 employees would "cost us right at a $160,000 to pull this off next week," and said he asked Miss Hale to prepare the payroll so the bonus would go out Friday, Dec. 5.

After the recommendation, the board chair moved to accept Mister Graham's proposal and Mister Graham seconded the motion. The chair called the vote and recorded it as 4-0 in favor. No opposing votes or abstentions were recorded on the transcript.

The bonus follows the larger $1,000 payment the board approved in the summer; the transcript records that the earlier payment was placed on employees' salary schedules. The board did not discuss alternative amounts, specific funding line items, or long-term budget impacts during the recorded discussion.

With the motion passed, the chair moved to adjourn. The meeting ended with brief holiday greetings from participants.

The transcript does not name the chair or the other two board members who voted; the action was recorded as a unanimous 4-0 approval.